Between the undead and the unliving
by Dragemenian jew
Summary: Her lack of emotion made her the perfect soldier but what if that heartshaped hole inside her chest is more vulnerable than she ever guessed. Ashlotte was created for a purpose but as she allows her target to speak, is that purpose enough? AstarothxAshlotte. Bumpt down the rating a bit but hope to be informed if this ought to be elsewhere.


**AN: So, yeah right! I decided to write this fic when everyone´s basically obsessing over Soul Calibur 5 with its new comers, worthy successors and all and basically have forgotten about SC4 bonus-girls :P. I swear I´m going to be my own death but I absolutely love this pairing and since I haven´t seen a fic for it yet I decided to write it myself. No jokes! This is seriously my OTP! I want to say though forth hand that the only reason this is rated M is due to this chapter (and perhaps others in the future) involving blood, violence and death and since this site seems to have become a lot stricter with rules lately I didn´t want to make any unnecessary mistakes. With that said, I hope anyone who´s interested in this pairing enjoys this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Here we go!  
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_**Her**** duty. **_

_Find him. Then use the axe you were equipped with simply for this purpose and dispose of him. Bring his body back here when it´s done. _Those were the orders she´d been given as well as her only and important memories. She couldn´t recall where she had been before she´d left the shattered temple, setting out to find the black giant but as she knew it, it was unimportant. She was here now, inside the tower where he was said to be found and the very purpose of her existence was soon to be fulfilled.

Silently scouting the area for other warriors the existence witch appeared to be a silver haired girl in her early teens explored the previously unknown area. Had it not been for her unnaturally pale skin, her yellow eyes or more importantly the heart shaped hole in her chest exposing the mechanics that kept her alive in much the same way their authentic counterparts would a normal girl she might actually have been capable off passing for one. Walls made of stained glass, the stone walls darkened almost to the point off being entirely black, the room itself so small the chances off escape were slight to none did the challenge prove to be impossible. But for Ashlotte however it wouldn´t be. Her powerful yet swift moves were sure to grant that, she had been designed to fight, the heaviness off her robust shell complimented by the quickness off the mechanics inside her ivory skin.

As she´d suspected it hadn´t taken long for them to notice her, witch truth be told was exactly what she´d planned. The two women running towards her with their arms raised were from everything she´d observed during her long travel from the temple no different from the creatures her creators called human-beings. They weren´t particularly tall, nor particularly muscled and had it not been for their red eyes or the black armors covering their lithe bodies they would most likely have been deemed attractive by her creators standards.

The malfested, beings that had long ago abandoned their humanity in favor off the eternal youth and powers offered by the cursed sword, beings that now were twice as strong as they´d ever been. Their strength however would give Ashlotte no trouble.

Swiftly stepping aside the iron maiden avoided the blow from the first woman´s axe, effortlessly blocking the attack from the other´s spear. Not surprisingly they both managed in dodging the heavy weapon Ashlotte swung at them in return, but knowing the difference between her own physics and theirs she predicted the battle to be short-lived. While the cursed sword protected them from wounds that would have meant death for any mortal it could only protect them from as much and even less against someone who possessed three times as much power as them. Just a slight movement off her arm and her axe had parried an attack from both her right and her left simultaneously. Sidestepping another attack from the woman with the spear, she spun quickly and although her giant blade was blocked her manoeuvre had confused her opponents enough not be taken by surprised by the strike aimed at their feet. Making the creature with the axe somewhat loose her footing Ashlotte swung her weapon at her second opponents head, almost hitting the unprotected part above her armor. The other one aimed a low attack towards the robots feet but Ashlotte quickly parried it, the handle off her axe hitting the woman with the axe where her first attack had failed. Using the momentum she grabbed hold off the arm off the attacker with the spear as she once again tried to strike her with a high attack, throwing her into the already wounded creature to her right. Before the women had the time to recover Ashlotte swung her weapon again this time crushing her opponent´s armors in the process. The creature with the spear tried to launch another attack at her but was to slow. Ashlotte had once again avoided her low strike, now dealing a fatal blow to her throat. Blood, Ashlotte had seen what it looked like before and she wasn´t unused too the sight nor the sight off a body falling to the ground, its head separated from its initial roots. It most certainly wasn´t a pretty sight but the robot had seen it many times before and knew that it was inevitable considering her specific purpose. People lived, people died and some like her were created to do neither. Dodging another attack from her still living opponent she swung her weapon again, nearly hitting the creature in her side. Her opponent swung a chain of strikes against her in return but the lack of power in them told Ashlotte off her tiredness. Aiming her weapon low only to bring it up in level with her opponents face equally swiftly, Ashlotte put an end to her struggle. The head off the second creature hitting the hard stone with a loud thud the robot lowered her weapon. It was strange to her, these creatures who had so few vulnerable areas on their bodies, knowing that one off only two ways off disposing of them was decapitation, why did they chose to keep their heads and necks off all places unprotected? Ashlotte had been forced to fight many off these creatures on her way here and yet their lack of strategy never ceased to surprise her.

She wasn´t surprised however as what she supposed would be her third opponent entered the room.

"A splendid show off skill", the grin on the black giant´s lips was scornful and revealed his long rows of large and predatory teeth, "I should have figured they´d send someone like you sooner or later."

Ashlotte didn´t answer but looked calmly back at her opponent as she started calculating the possible threats the large, muscled creature could possess. He was broad over the shoulders, his frame possibly four times the size off hers and although he stood at least a good five meters away from her she could tell he was at least a head and a shoulder higher than his soon to be opponent. His attacks were likely to be powerful but granted the size off his weapons as well as his overall physic also likely to be slow. Whereas most off his former opponents had been taken aback by the many stitches on his black skin, the heart attached to his broad chest as well as his lithe clothing and armor that did nothing to hide these attributes Ashlotte had seen enough in her short life-time not to be surprised or scared.

"I see…", he gave a laughter that sounded more like a snort as he too measured the intruder with his white eyes, "that they yet haven´t lost their creativity when it comes to inventions".

Ashlotte didn´t know what he meant and nor was it evident that she did. Her mission was nearly over and the only thing that could possibly make her fail it was lack of focus, a mistake that she was sure to avoid.

"I doubt they spent so much work on a new tool not for it to possess any skill in battle", the giant sent the robot a spiteful glance, "since you´ve come all this way go ahead and finish your job".

"I will", Ashlotte said softly as she raised her weapon, "your reign has gone on for far too long".

Despite off her determination to finish her mission the robot was not going to be the one to deal out the first blow. Knowing from the information she´d previously received that this creature had been the death off many warriors, some far more skilled than those she´d battled on her journey she was not going to be hasty. She was made off the hardest iron and completely lacked the fragile inner parts that most off her opponents possessed but being the perfected warrior-machine she was she also knew that the moving wheels, revealed from the heart-shaped hole in her chest could prove to be equally fragile as those off her human counter-parts when stricken with enough power. She continued inspecting her opponent as she slowly moved around him. The fact that his own heart was situated outside his skin could probably be seen by most as it being an easy target but remembering how many off his opponents had failed in hitting it she still looked at the giant from a safe distant. Just as she´d suspected it didn´t take long for the undead being to attack, a powerful blow that would have cut any human opponent in half flew through the air, but having expected it long ago the iron maiden avoided it with a simple step to her right.

"Damn you!" the giant roared as his axe split the air again, another blow that Ashlotte easily parried, "when will you filthy lot give in?"

But the roar that had made so many warriors tremble in pure fear did nothing to the curly, doll-like creature as she avoided her opponents many blows with a swiftness he´d never been capable of managing himself. Side-stepping yet another time, Ashlotte dealt a blow to the giants back witch he in turn, spun around to block. Another blow came at the iron maiden head witch she dodged striking a series of high and low blows her opponent´s direction. He had good reflexes, that she had to compliment him on but she had to say he relied too much on his physical power. The strikes that came at her were brutal, powerful and hard but nonetheless almost as easy to predict as those off his underlings and Ashlotte could tell that no one had trained him before.

"You are strong, I give you that", the giant´s voice was as defiant as ever, "but so were many in the trails off corpses I´ve left behind".

Ashlotte believed him but now having seen his moves for herself she was starting to become more and more convinced off the reason being his overwhelming size and immortal powers than any kind off skill. This being fought with rage and emotion, not mind and calculation and although they were enough to hold his ground against her now she doubted they´d save him in the long term. Swiftly side-stepping another one of his moves she dealt a blow that nearly hit his side, the being aiming at her a clumsy low blow in return. As Ashlotte once again avoided the heavy axe she could tell that her opponent had started to grow tired. Tired, a physical feeling she´d never experienced and doubted she´d ever would. Calmly observing the black giant Ashlotte stayed almost immobile. Considering the slow pace he now moved in she didn´t need much more movement anyway and the more he wore himself out the faster her mission would end.

"Damn you!" the giant roared as he thoughtlessly swung his axe at the petite iron woman, "I haven´t come this far to get beaten by another mindless dummy! Just die will you"!

But Ashlotte needed hardly move as she easily blocked the blow, aiming her foot at his shin. Granted the heaviness off her Iron skin the kick hit with a force that not even the seemingly invulnerable golem was immune to and the pain distracted Astaroth enough to get hit by the handle off her axe.

_Emotions, _Ashlotte thought, _such a vulnerable point they are for the warrior. _She pitied her opponent. The robots Iron leg kicked high, stomping down on the golem with full force, its heavy weight keeping him locked to the ground.

"Damn you insignificant maggot!" the giant yelled from where he laid, "no matter what complex mechanics lies within that armor you´ll never be anything but a pity tool!"

Ashlotte had been warned by her creators off words like these and been told not to listen to them during any circumstances. The giant was a traitor, a creature that had abandoned his very purpose for selfish greed and hunger for power and the only thing he could possibly do with his talk was turning others away from their rightful path. She wasn´t going to listen to him, at least not for long…

"You know why they created you don´t you?" the defeated giants scornful laughter cut through the air.

"Yes", Ashlotte´s voice was soft and calm as she looked into the giants white eyes, "my purpose alone is to dispose of you".

"That´s your only purpose", the giants laughter was filled with bitterness and in his eyes Ashlotte saw traces off an emotion she couldn´t quite identify, "and when you´ve done just that..? Do you know what they´ll do to you then?"

"No", Ashlotte gave a gentle headshake, "and nor is it my business to know".

"Not your business?" the giant´s voice was a snort, "I suppose you really are their best creation yet".

"That´s what they call me at least", Ashlotte said softly as she raised her axe, "you should know this is nothing personal".

But as the robot was to let the death dealing blow fall there was something that prevented her hand from moving as quickly as it should have. She knew what was right, she knew that if she didn´t do what she was sent here to do she was nothing but an incomplete creation that didn´t serve its purpose but yet what had seemed like common sense when she set off from the temple all of a sudden seemed a lot more complicated now.

"Were you their first creation?" she heard herself asking as she once again lowered her weapon, "or were there others before you?"

"Maybe there was, maybe there wasn´t", the giant snorted, "and why should I tell someone like you anyway? It´s not as if you´re going to make anything useful off the knowledge!" his white eyes glared spitefully at her.

_Why should he tell me? _Ashlotte was sent by the very cult he held grudge towards and just one second ago she´d been only seconds from terminating him. What sensible reason would there be for him to tell her such a thing? And above all, what sensible reason would there be for her to want to know such a thing in the first place? It wasn´t as if her purpose would change regardless. The iron maiden was just about to open her mouth when she heard the familiar sound off heavy boots and armor. Soldiers, an entire legion and due to her distraction she´d failed to notice them. Their steps echoed from the halls, their heels almost shattering the ancient stones underneath their feet.

"I am Hildegard von Krone, surrender at once if you value your lives!" the female voice was strong and steady.

Ashlotte turned around, still with her foot on the giant´s chest in order to take a good look at the woman and her heavily armored followers. The woman´s armor was made of the finest steel, the shinning silvery color as well as the red fabrics wrapped around her shoulder revealing her noble origins. The only point that wasn´t covered was her face and her brown eyes that looked straight into Ashlotte´s. This human being was equally fearless as the creature Ashlotte was still holding against the ground and from her battle experience the iron maiden knew that warriors who gave that glance never hesitated to attack.

Using his opponent´s distraction to his advantage the golem had with his brutal strength managed in bending her iron foot away from his body and with a loud thump Ashlotte fell backwards and hit the ground. The machine had but time to regret her foolishness as her target used his invulnerability to run towards the window and in a flash off shattered glass once again disappeared out of her sight.

Not losing one moment Ashlotte rushed to her feet. She knew that her body was created to endure hard strikes and although she didn´t know how well it would handle a fall from this tower she knew one thing for sure; if she stayed here she wouldn´t only lose all traces off her target but also be mistaken for a malefested due to her pale skin and destroyed at the spot. And as she ran after her former opponent, crashing through the broken glass she truly hoped her body was robust enough to handle the fall. She wanted to complete her mission and perhaps more than she wanted to admit, wished to hear the golem´s answer to her question.

**AN: So... I know 1. I suck at writing battle-scenes since I´m not very knowledgable in the subject and 2. I made Astaroth faaaaar more articulate than he really is but I´m hoping you enjoyed this anyway. I don´t expect many other people than me taking an interest in this strange pairing but if you did I hope you review xD. And oh, flames generated by hatred for this pairing or these characters will only be used to toast my marshmallows and you will be asked the question "so why on earth are you reading this fic to begin with several times".**** Constructive criticism however = Always welcome!  
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**Until next time!  
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